Photo art composition by Lee Johnson for the Doctor Who - The Complete History partwork series.
In his last and most dangerous adventure in the Pertwee years, what begins as innocuous research into ESP turns into a deadly mind battle, with the terrifying spiders from the planet Metebelis Three pitted against the Doctor, his friends and fellow Time Lord K'Anpo.
At a Tibetan-style retreat deep in rural England a clandestine circle of chanting brethren unknowingly call upon the evil powers of the Metebelis Spiders, whose quest for the perfect blue crystal leads them straight to the Doctor. He must travel to the alien planet to meet the Great One, merciless ruler of her spiders and human slaves, who plans to take over Earth. The future of the entire universe is in the Doctor's hands, but if he is to face the fear the Great One sees in his mind, then he must face the certainty of total destruction. Could this be the Time Lord's final death?
Original VHS release sleeve synopsis - 1991
Truly the 'last hurrah' for both Jon Pertwee and the Third Doctor's era, my memories of Planet of the Spiders are not from the actual six-part version of the story but rather the excellent omnibus edition shown at Xmas time (December 27th, 1974, at 2.45pm). And I remember all the classic scenes from it too, as if it were yesterday - the fun transport chase between the Doctor and UNIT against Lupton (and especially the Whomobile when it flies), some of the retreat rest home scenes with Mike and Sarah, at least one scene of the spiders' meeting/clashes and Sarah's arrival on Metebelis III as the spider envoy arrives in the small human community. Plus, of course, the finale, where the Doctor confronts the Great One and regenerates. I remember even then thinking that the regeneration scene in to the new Doctor (whose name I briefly didn't know then, as I hadn't seen the newspapers with his casting) was all too brief.
One of the creepy Metebelis III spiders now arrived on Earth.
Overall, Planet has been in and out of fashion many times with fandom over the last four decades or so, but I find it great fun, a tale in which all the regular supporting cast have things to do (it's a shame, though, that an early idea to have the UNIT-retired Mike Yates teamed with Sarah as the new Doctor's travelling companions never happened, especially as the duo work well together in this story). There's also a fine guest cast (John Kane as the soon-intellectual Tommy being a standout), whilst the audience-memorable Spiders, brought to life by BBC effects veterans Ian Scoones and Mat Irvine, are generally well done, though I think the last episode's confrontation with the Great One is ultimately far too static - I hope that the story's eventual Blu-ray release might get a CGI makeover in certain aspects. And as much as I remember the story I also loved getting the original Target book from my mum a year later, what with its cover art of the newly-departed Doctor's facing the possessed Sarah and the corner imaging of his changing face, all of which I really found fascinating and exciting.
Now approaching five-years old, my appreciation for the series ,and my full-time interest in it, really kicked-off by the very next day on BBC 1, and the intriguing arrival of Tom Baker...
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment